I really enjoyed the first book and even more so this one. I personally feel he has taken everything from the first and expanded it.
I wont spoil anything but I will say this I love the fact the group have unique classes or combos of them or at least ones that are not commonly done such as a druid/thief. How often do you see that?
beyond this I am hugely thankful the characters down power lvl. oh sure they are powerful but most the time the way they win make sense due to there abilities. there may be only one case where I thought it did not make sense.
my only real problem is the ending left me wondering a few things and wanting more. still it is not a true cliff hanger so much as a lead in for the next book which will hopefully come relatively quickly.